Suspect In Heroin Case Is Detained

A 21-year-old man who prosecutors say admitted to undercover agents that he sold heroin that caused an Orlando man to overdose and lapse into a coma was held Thursday without bail.

Jorge Weiss sat with his arms folded after Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed White charged that Weiss provided the heroin that has left William King, 20, unconscious since Aug. 30. White asked that Weiss, who faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted, be held until trial because he is a danger to the community.

At a brief bail hearing, Assistant Federal Public Defender Darlene Geiger asked to delay the hearing. She also objected to investigators trying to take a routine urinalysis test of her client that screens for illegal drug use.

But U.S. Magistrate James Glazebrook said he was insistent that Weiss take the test before he would consider setting bail. He ordered Weiss detained.

An affidavit by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Burlin Webster charges that Weiss, of 6206 Gamble Drive, sold heroin to King on Aug. 30. Orange County Sheriff's Office records show that King's father called 911 after his son returned from a friend's home, fell asleep on the couch and would not wake up.

Sheriff's records show King was admitted to Princeton Hospital in critical condition and was expected to have brain damage. King's father reported that his son had a heroin problem and had overdosed in the past.

Records show that Webster, assigned to the new local-federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force that is targeting heroin dealers, later met Weiss on Oct. 2 and bought a half-gram of the drug. The agent, wearing a hidden listening device, recorded Weiss admit previously selling heroin to King. Weiss' attorney would not comment.

Since 1994, heroin has claimed 111 lives in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Volusia and Brevard as Colombian heroin has invaded Central Florida. At least 23 people have died this year, and several other suspected deaths are being investigated, according to medical examiner records.

Eight people have been charged under federal statutes this year with causing six near-fatal or deadly overdoses, said Steve Collins, supervisor of the task force's heroin unit. All face up to life in prison.

``We're trying to send a message to heroin dealers that even the smallest dealers are going to face the maximum penalties under the law,'' Collins said. ``And it sends a message to the users that you've got to get treatment.''

Since July 1, task force agents have arrested 30 suspects - ranging from major traffickers to street dealers - and seized about 3.3 pounds of heroin, Collins said.